Animal Story (2014 Film)
Animal Story is a 2014 American live action buddy-comedy adventure film produced by Walt Disney and directed by Jon Fraveau. Animal Story follows a group of anthropomorphic toys who pretend to talk whenever humans aren't present, and focuses on the relationship between Kyle, an chubby orange cat (Jack Black), and Jango, an hiperative brown dog (Robert Downey, Jr.). The film was written by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow, and Joss Whedon, and featured music by Randy Newman. Its executive producers were Steve Jobs and Edwin Catmull. Plot Jango (voiced by Robert Downey, Jr.), a orange cat, is the only animal left on the Shaw Ranch after Silent Joe (Jeff Bridges) (a cattle rustler capable of stealing 500 in a single night) stole all the rest of Dixon's cattle. Mr. Shaw (Kelsey Grammer) sells Jango to Sarah Hawkins (Jennifer Connelly), a kind and widowed woman, that runs a small farm called Peace of Skyn alongside her tow sons Molly (Elle Fanning) and James (Thomas Sangster). The film cuts with Sarah's daughter Molly playing with her animals, such as a Mr. Goose (voiced by Hugo Weaving), Ernie (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) a Rooster, and her favorite pet, Kyle, a white Labrador. She takes Kyle into the living room and plays with him some more, with a short interruption talking to her mom about her birthday party later that day. After playing with Kyle, Molly starts helping her brother by carrying their baby brother Jason to her. While she's away, all of the animals begins to talk. The party makes all the animals extremely nervous, wondering if Molly will get a animal that will replace them. Kyle sends the small crows led by Sarge Raven (voiced by Frank Welker) downstairs to spy on the party. At the end of the party, Sarah pulls out a surprise gift from behind her, which turns out to be Jango, the cat from the beggining of the film. Molly and his friends run upstairs to play with him and in her hurry Molly knocks Kyle off the bed. They quickly leave, and the other animals welcome the newcomer. Kyle however doesn't seem to be aware that he is a ordinary animal, believing himself to be the actual Jango Jax from the TV show in a mission to stop the evil Kobra. The other animals take to him immediately, being impressed by his many abilities. Only Kyle is unconvinced, showing jealousy towards Jango, who might replace him as Molly's favorite pet. As time passes, Molly replaces many of her dog themed room decorations with cat ones causing Kyle's resentment to rise while Jango attempts to fix his 'damaged spaceship' (in reality, a piece of the packaging had been torn). The local magnate, Billy Burnton (Jeff Bridges) arrives to tell Sarah that her bank is cracking down on debtors. Sarah has three days to pay the bank $1800, or her farm will be sold to the highest bidder. Hearing this, Kyle convinces the other animals on the farm to go to town to attempt winning prize money at a fair. Sometime later, Sarah takes Molly, James and Jason on a trip to the animal-themed Bob's Burgers restaurant. Molly asks if he can bring any animals, and she agrees to let her take one. Kyle, knowing Molly will choose Jango, plans to trap him in a gap behind the cellar so Molly won't find him. However the plan goes badly wrong and instead knocks him out the window in traffic by accident. When the other animals learn of Kyle's actions, most of them think Kyle tried to kill Jango out of jealousy. They then try to attack him, but Kyle is rescued when Molly, unable to find Jango, takes Kyle on the trip instead. At a stop at a Sauron gas station to refuel the car, Kyle (after pondering how he's going to convince the animals that the whole thing was an accident) finds that Jango grabbed ahold of the family's minivan and is with them. After a conversation, the two animals begin to fight, knocking each other out of the minivan, and are left behind when it drives away. Kyle convinces Jango to hitch a lift on a Bob's Burgers truck in order to return to Molly. While the animals are in the restaurant, a police officer named Buck (Hugh Jackman) drops a criminal off and collects eats a sandwich. Stating he needs a replacement car to go after Silent Joe. When Kyle find out that the reward for capturing Joe is of exactly $1800, he convinces Jango to try to capture him to save Peace of Sky, but he lost his mind when Jango might do this with his powers. While fighting, Kyle finds Molly there, but Jango, still thinking he's a real space cat, climbs into a chick catch game, thinking that it's a cathouse that will take him to Kobra's location. Kyle goes in after him, but the two eventually are found by Jimmy Burnton (Colin Ford), who lives in the city and is known to torture and kill animals just for fun. Left alone in Burnton's room, in a cave, Kyle and Jango come upon a group of mis-matched animals, the results of Jimmy's many "experiments". Kyle and Jango react in fear, thinking that the mis-matched animals are cannibals. Meanwhile, at Peace of Sky, the animals continue to look for Jango in the bushes. But when Molly, James and their mother come home, Molly notices that Kyle's gone. The other animals wonder what has become of the two. Some are worried for both Jango and Kyle, while others express their hope that Kyle has met a bad end. The next day, at Burnton's house, Kyle and Jango, having been mistreated by Jimmy (Jimmy burned Kyle's forehead with a magnifying glass), try to escape, only to run into Silent Joe's crazy Bull Terrier Scud. Eventually getting out of Jimmy's room, Jango comes upon a TV where he sees a commercial for the Jango Jax line of toys. Watching it, he realizes that Kyle was right about him: He was a ordinary cat this whole time, not a real secret agent. However, in denial (and one last desperate attempt to prove he's not just a cat), Jango tries to fly out of a window by jumping off the guardrail of the stairs on the second floor, only to fall to the floor, breaking his arm in the process. He is found by Jimmy's little sister Megan, who takes him away to put him in her tea party. Kyle finally finds Jango in Megan's room, dressed as "Mrs. Kitten" and attending a tea party. While Kyle formulates a plan of escape, Jango is too depressed to care. When Woody throws a string of Christmas tree lights across the way to the toys in Molly's room, Kyle refuses to back him up; Kyle tries to use Jango's detached bell in a desperate attempt to convince Molly's animals that Jango is with him, but when they see through this act, they take it as evidence that Kyle truly did murder Jango and leave him in disgust. The Mutant Animals then return and swarm over Jango, and Kyle finds that they have repaired him. However, before Kyle can make friends with them, Jimmy returns with his new acquisition: A firework rocket. He decides to blow up Kyle with it, but cannot find him as Kyle hides in a milk crate. Jimmy then decides to blow up Jango instead but is stymied by rainfall. He unknowingly traps Kyle in the crate by putting a heavy toolbox on top, a plans to go ahead in the morning. Overnight, Kyle tries get Jango to help him escape and capture Silent Joe, however, Jango is still depressed that he's only a ordinary animal. Kyle tries to convince him that being a normal animal and is much better than being a Secret Agent, and Molly still thinks he's the best thing in world. Jango doesn't know why Molly would want him, and Kyle explains while coming to terms with his own feelings of resentment: Why would Molly want you?! Look at you! You're a Jango Jax cat. Any other cat would give up their fur just to be you. You've got a cool color, you see in the dark, you are big, charismatic. You are a COOL cat... as a matter of fact you're too cool. I mean -- I mean what chance does a animal like me have against a Jango Jax cat? As Woody sadly states that he should be the one taped to Jimmy's rocket, Jango looks at his collar where Molly has signed her name, helping his realize how much Molly loves him and how being a normal animal isn't too bad. The two try to escape (although Jango accidentally knocks the toolbox on Kyle when trying to get the milk crate off of him). Unfortunately, Jimmy wakes up and takes Jango out to blow him up, leaving Kyle alone in the room. Even worse, Molly and her family are getting ready to stay without home because of Silent Joe's crimes, with Molly depressed over having seemingly lost Kyle and Jango having only been able to find Jango's cardboard spaceship and his hat. Kyle calls out to the Mutant Animals to tell them a plan to escape. After a daring escape through the house and past Scud, Kyle and the mutants end up in the cave main tunnel with Jimmy. They decide to break the rules and they allow Jimmy to see that they can talk on their own. Kyle even speaks to him through a cellphone, telling him that his pets are sick of being tortured, then with his own voice tells him (in a sinister way) to play nice. This freaks Jimmy out and he runs into the house screaming, where his sister frightens him with her new parrot Polly (a possible replacement for her original parrot Janie, which was mutated by Jimmy). Now freed from Billy, Kyle and Jango try to catch Silent Joe's moving van, Sarah's car and a truck with Molly's animals, just as it is pulling away from his house, to the farm. After arriving to Silent Joe's car, Kyle and Jango try capture Joe. They discover that Bob is actually Billy Burnton. Buck arrives. When the car stops, Buck is revealed to work for Joe. Joe dons his Billy Burnton costume and leaves the two stranded in the middle of the road with the oving truck, while he goes to attend the auction. A harrowing chase follows, with Scud chasing them and Molly's animals on the moving truck not helping, since they still think that Kyle intentionally got rid of Jango. Luckily, Kyle and Jango get rid of Scud and the other animals finally see that Kyle was telling the truth. Eventually, with the help of Ed, Molly's horse, and strategic use of Jimmy's rocket, Kyle and Jango return to the truck. They all arrive using the truck to the farm and expose Joe. Joe is arrested, and Peace of Sky is saved by the reward money. At Christmas, we see a scene similar to the birthday party, with the animals less worried about the new ones. Mr. Goose is pleased to find out that James has been given a new female goose. When discussing being replaced by a new pet (like Kyle was almost replaced by Jango), Kyle poses the question to Jango, "What could Molly possibly get that is worse than you?" The answer comes in the form of Molly's first present, a puppy (which makes Kyle and Jango feel quite uneasy). Cast Voice Cast *Elijah Wood as Kyle, a white Labrador *Robert Downey, Jr. as Jango, a Siamese Cat *Hugo Weaving as Mr. Goose, a grumpy goose *Michael Douglas as Mutt, a old dog *Seth MacFarlane as Ernie, a cowardly rooster *Phil LaMarr as Wilbur, a pig *Frank Welker as Sarge Raven Live Action Cast *Elle Fanning as Molly Hawkins *Thomas Sangster as James Hawkins *Jennifer Connelly as Sarah Hawkins *Jeff Bridges as Silent Joe / Billy Burnton *Colin Ford as Jimmy Burnton Category:2014 films Category:Upcoming films Category:Live-Action Movies